- All applicants are required to declare whether they have any relevant unspent criminal convictions.
- Where an applicant applies to a course leading to certain professions or occupations exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974), they are also asked to declare whether they have any criminal convictions – including spent convictions – that are not filtered. This is a mandatory question.
UCAS is committed to ensuring all individuals who wish to progress to higher education can do so in an appropriate and respectful manner, and that no applicant is deterred from applying to university or college due to the questions posed as part of the application. With this in mind, and following discussions with external stakeholders and providers, UCAS has taken the decision to remove the first question above from Apply for the 2019 entry cycle. The second question will remain available for use by providers for certain courses (e.g. those that involve work with children and vulnerable adults). This change also ensures full compliance with GDPR requirements.
This change will affect courses starting from September 2019, and will be in place from the following dates:
- UCAS Undergraduate – 22 May 2018
- UCAS Conservatoires – 18 July 2018
- UCAS Postgraduate – 5 June 2018
To support you with this change, we will be updating the SPA good practice resources on this topic. We’ll also be discussing this change in more detail at our Annual Admissions Conference next week.